What professionals say about Sibelius 7
"I've found Sibelius to be a superb notation program, one that enables me to create beautiful looking scores, whether its for my film projects or my concert work. The Magnetic layout proves to be an extremely smart feature that makes every one of my scores, large or small, appear as professional as possible, saving time and effort in the process. I would recommend Sibelius to any composer who is looking for a user-friendly and proficient way to execute their music "
Sharon Farber, Composer of both film/TV works and concert works
"The striking thing about Sibelius 7 is the new user interface—the startling thing about Sibelius 7 is how much faster the new user interface allows you to work. Are you arranging a score for a choral performance? Sibelius 7 makes you faster. Are you creating music for live playback with virtual instruments? Sibelius 7 makes you faster. Are you simplifying a score for Broadway musical auditions? Sibelius 7 makes you faster. (And that was just my day yesterday.) "
John Murdoch, Music director; Lehigh Valley Presbyterian Church, Allentown, PA
"Sibelius 7 builds impressively on the strengths of Sibelius 6 and introduces the ribbon—a new way of working! Not only does it improve the speed of notation, but it also opens your eyes to things you never knew Sibelius could do! "
Nigel Fletcher, Professional arranger, engraver, and musical theatre composer
"I can’t compare Sibelius to other notation programs—I've never had a need to use them. More than 1,500 arrangements over seven seasons of Australian Idol and Sibelius was the go-to notation software for all of them. "
Dave Pritchard-Blunt, Musical director; Australian Idol
"The Ribbon makes Sibelius 7 even more intuitive. New users will be creating beautiful looking scores even faster, while the graphic layout of the Ribbon will encourage even the most established user to try something new. "
Paul Mellors, Educator & M.D. BBC Radio 3 Open Choir Of The Year 2010
"Running Sibelius 7 in 64-bit is a quantum leap forward for notation and playback software! "
A. Eric Heukeshoven, Composer, educator, technologist; Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
"As someone who regularly collaborates with other composers and arrangers who use notation programs besides Sibelius, I find that the addition of built-in MusicXML export really rounds out the feature set for everything I need in music notation software."
Bryan Harmsen, Marching band composer/arranger
"Sibelius 7 is a huge leap in notation software. It combines a modern tabbed interface, 64-bit support and lots of new functions with Sibelius's well-known user-friendly look and feel. This program is totally new and yet everything I need remains where I want it to be. Amazing! Sibelius 7 is better and more capable than ever. "
Richard Smith, Music teacher, orchestra director & composer
"Every once in a while, one encounters a product that unites form and function in a way not seen before. Sibelius 7 may very well be the best execution of the ribbon UI on the market. Mark my words: This upgrade will define notation software for years to come! Sibelius 7 bridges the gap between seasoned professionals and amateurs alike. Avid has created a software that is easily approachable by anyone while at the same time providing near unlimited possibilities for the professional. "
Tobias Escher, Composer, orchestrator, educator
What professionals say about Sibelius 6 and earlier versions
"Sibelius is essential. Without it we just couldn't create orchestral scores for films like Quantum of Solace. There’s always so many last minute film changes and Sibelius just handles everything. "
David Arnold, composer on James Bond films, Hot Fuzz & Little Britain
"Does
just about everything except think up the music for me"
John Rutter
choral composer
John Rutter is the world's leading composer of music for choirs
"I don't know what I did before I had Sibelius. The main feature for me is the ability to receive scores electronically, and I have lost count of the times that Sibelius has come to the rescue when I have been on the road, and needed scores and parts."
Sir James Galway, flautist
"Sibelius has been a fundamental tool for my music for a long time. It has become invaluable for me and my whole team in every part of the creative process."
Alberto Iglesias
Oscar-nominated composer for the film The Kite Runner
"We used Sibelius to mark parts for ourselves and all the guys in the band throughout the recording. We found out about Scorch technology and seemed like a natural step to offer the 'Scorched' version of the score on our website."
Pat Metheny
jazz guitarist & composer
"Composing
for a weekly series does not allow me the downtime necessary to
work around software issues ... Sibelius saves me time, and its
intuitive operation and overall smoothness enhance the notation
experience."
Alf Clausen
composer
Alf Clausen composes the music for The Simpsons
"Sibelius
is one of the most innovative pieces of software I have ever used.
It allows you to work the way you want to work. For me, I like
to create my charts in step-time, but you can also record in real
time, or from your laptop's keyboard when you're on the road.
That's the beauty of Sibelius...it doesn't limit you. I used to
have to dictate every note of my charts to my arrangers. Now,
I can hand them a score."
Ray Charles (1930-2004)
jazz legend
(Ray Charles used Sibelius Speaking in conjunction with Sibelius to create his scores. For more information on Sibelius Speaking click here.)
"I have found Sibelius a powerful and effective tool"
Michael Tilson Thomas
conductor & composer
Michael Tilson Thomas is the principal conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and former conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra
"Sibelius is exceptionally fast and easy to use"
Lalo Schifrin
composer & jazz musician
Lalo Schifrin composed the famous Mission Impossible theme and scored Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry Movies
"Sibelius
would have used Sibelius"
Michael Kamen (1948-2003)
film composer
Michael Kamen composed scores for blockbuster films including Lethal Weapon and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
" Sibelius has changed my musical horizon – making what would be impossible, possible. My dream as a child to have a machine that could cut through the cumbersome paperwork of writing music and printing parts, has become a reality and each day as my technique on Sibelius increases and as their software progresses, the task of imagining music and realizing it moves closer and closer together..."
Gil Goldstein
jazz pianist, accordion player, producer, arranger
and composer
"Sibelius has certainly made life easier. Its intuitive design has helped
me
to bridge the gap between creativity and practicality."
Michael Brecker
(1949-2007)
jazz saxophonist/composer
" I find Sibelius an indispensable tool for arranging, teaching and composing music. It is an exceptionally easy program to learn and use but extremely powerful; it's streets ahead of the competition."
"I had tried a few other programs but found them too tedious and cumbersome. Inputting music in Sibelius is extremely easy and quick. My students find it very useful for learning difficult rhythmic passages, especially those in contemporary music. "
John Feeley
classical guitarist
"The amount of time that was spent on the physical side of writing things out is taken away, and I'm just using time creatively."
Django Bates
Jazz performer and composer
"Sibelius is the most intuitive notation program I've seen. It's
an absolute joy to use."
Mike Mainieri
jazz vibraphonist, producer, arranger
and composer
“Sibelius has been a dream come true! Whether I'm writing compositions or exercises for a drum book, the Sibelius software provides wonderful notation, saves time, and helps me stay organized!"
Danny Gottlieb
Drummer, Clinician, & Author
"I think Sibelius is a really fantastic program. I haven’t found anything that I can’t do with it yet. And I don’t think I ever will."
Dario Marianelli, Oscar-winning composer for the film Atonement
"The new audio engine (A.I.R.) and Rewire capabilities in Sibelius 6 allow me to combine my classical music with my electronic music in a organic and logical way, whether in the studio or in live performance. There is no other notation software that comes close."
Ricardo Romaneiro
Composer (Esquire Magazine’s Best and Brightest 2007)
"Sibelius is a triumph of intellect, engineering, reliability, simplicity, and - above all - musicality. Sibelius enables musical dreams to come true, and has become as essential to my work as my drum set."
Peter Erskine
drummer, composer, author and educator
I receive scores from composers all over the world and the ones created in Sibelius have the most professional look possible – I can really visualize their creative intentions. For a conductor, that’s essential.
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
"In
a totally different league from anything else"
Paul Patterson, composer & professor, Royal Academy of Music, London
The Royal Academy of Music, London, is one of the world's most respected conservatories
"I rely on Sibelius"
Julian Joseph,
jazz pianist & composer
"I genuinely enjoy working with Sibelius. It's a superb notation program and composing tool"
Steve Reich
composer
Steve Reich was recently called '...America's greatest living composer' (The Village VOICE).
"Sibelius is a great tool: fast, light and versatile. With Sibelius I have been able to work on huge scores on airplanes, in hotel rooms, even on trains! My complicated double life as a composer and conductor has become somewhat easier to manage because of Sibelius. And as a (real) Finn, I find it very appropriate that the best notation software carries the name of the greatest Finnish composer. "
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Music Director, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra & Composer
"Sibelius has rapidly become the new industry standard"
Larry Morton
President
Hal Leonard is the world's leading music print publisher
"Sibelius is the ultimate creative tool"
Andy Summers
guitarist & songwriter
Guitarist with The Police, Andy Summers is the composer of Grammy-nominated album The Golden Wire
"I use Sibelius exclusively for all my arranging and composing and as my musical notebook. Last year I composed the Jamie Cullum Twentysomething songbook while we were away on tour just using my laptop on buses and planes. I could not have done it without Sibelius."
Geoff Gascoyne
bass player and arranger for Jamie Cullum
"Sibelius will be the standard. What a great way to save massive amounts of time, and money!"
Michael Torke
composer
Michael Torke is one of the leading lights of America's new generation of composers
"Sibelius is the best thing to happen to composers since the invention of the propelling pencil"
Howard Goodall
film & television composer
"The most innovative and complete music scoring application!"
Roberto Gatto
drummer, arranger and composer
"Sibelius 5 allows me to collect my musical ideas and recall them rapidly and efficiently. I particularly like to write my scores by playing directly to my computer though my guitar synth and make changes rapidly when needed. Sibelius 5 is a magical tool and I can't thank enough the great people that have designed it and refining it through the years."
Peppino D’Agostino
composer, performer and recording artist
(voted “Best Acoustic Guitarist” - 2007 Guitar Player Magazine Readers’ Choice Awards)
"Every copyist in my crew at the Universal Studios Music Library is completely wowed by the stability and ease of Sibelius 4. In Apple's OSX it is rock-solid and extremely fast. We just used Sibelius for Denzel Washington's Inside Man and IMAX's Deep Sea 3D (composer, Danny Elfman) and were impressed by its reliability. Congratulations on your new release!"
Stuart Balcomb
Supervising Music Copyist
Universal Studios
“Thank goodness for Sibelius. It makes my job and my life so much easier. Being able to export directly from Pro Tools is a big help. It's easy to make any changes quickly that might be needed in the score and reprinting the parts is a breeze. Just one thing less to worry about when I'm in a rush to get things done.”
Stevie Blacke
Producer, Composer, & Songwriter
